Harper deliberately obstructive on ORPP

The Harper government’s refusal to provide administrative support for the planned Ontario pension plan is deliberately obstructive and goes against the democratic will of the people of the province, Unifor says.

“In the last provincial election, the people of Ontario sent a clear message that they supported a pension plan for the province to supplement the Canada Pension Plan,” said Ontario Regional Director Katha Fortier.

“Unifor is calling on the federal government to reverse this bad decision.”

Unifor has been a strong supporter of the Ontario Register Pension Plan (ORPP), as a first step to expanding the CPP. The Harper government has opposed any plan to expand public pensions.

In a letter to the Ontario government, leaked to the media Thursday, Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver said Ottawa will not provide administrative support for the ORPP, such as using the CPP’s existing payroll deduction mechanism to collect contributions.

“This is deliberately obstructive, and does nothing to serve the people of Ontario,” Fortier said.

Fortier said Unifor will continue to push for a mandatory, universal, defined benefit ORPP that mirrors the CPP/QPP.

For more on Unifor’s ORPP and CPP efforts, go to unifor.org/pensionscampaign.